Automatic weapons such as guns are conventionally fired using an ammunition belt of connected shells. High speed firing of a large number of rounds is possible without reloading due to the large number of shells which can be connected as part of a single ammunition belt. The length of the belt is thus usually quite long and must be stored in other than a straight configuration so that the belt can be stored in a relatively compact compartment. Usually this storage is achieved by locating the belt in a curved or serpentine configuration with each length of the belt separated from the adjacent belt length by a fixed partition. The fixed partitions allow the belt to move freely to the gun without sliding over itself and possibly inhibiting the feed to the gun. Belt movement over itself can inhibit the feed by becoming caught or simply by increasing the force required to pull the belt to the gun. Prior art references which disclose apparatus of the type discussed above include British Patent Specification No. 759,060 and German Patentschrift No. 639,060.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,687,004 discloses feed apparatus for an automatic gun wherein an ammunition belt is driven by a servocontrol device. Belt tension is sensed by a detector in order to control operation of an electric motor of the servocontrol device. The belt tension detector includes spring biased levers carrying a roller than engages the ammunition belt to form a bight within a curved housing along the direction the belt is fed.
British Patent Specification No. 603,774 discloses an ammunition belt feed mechanism including rollers carried by a linkage which is retractable to position the belt in an abruptly curved configuration and which is extendable so that the belt curvature becomes less abrupt in order to feed the belt during operation of the gun.
Another gun feed mechanism is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 2,569,798. This mechanism does not require the shells which are loaded to be connected in a belt as with the other patents described above. Shells are positioned within lined slots of the mechanism and movement of the slot liner moves the shells out of the slots for feeding to the gun during operation.